NY GOP Assembly Candidate Leading by Razor-Thin 3 Vote Margin Dem Incumbent

The gap between Democrat New York State Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato and her Republican challenger Tom Sullivan in the race for District 23 has shrunk to just three votes, prompting a recount.

In addition to the recount, however, Amato has gone to court seeking the reexamination of ninety-two disputed absentee votes and two improperly invalidated votes, a move Sullivan has vowed to fight back against.

Amato filed the lawsuit at the NY Supreme Court in Queens, the borough she represents in the State Assembly, calling for the votes to be counted.

As the Rockawave reports, Amato alleged that despite the absentee ballots having issues with their envelopes, they should nonetheless be counted.

“Voters’ rights are paramount,” she argued, “and no voter should be penalized with arbitrary determinations which defy logic and prevent a voter from even attempting to cure potential errors.” She added that the ballots in question still “meet all the statutory obligations.”

Sullivan, however, noted that the ballots “were voided by a bipartisan team from the Board of Elections,” and that, “there were material mistakes on those ballots that put the integrity of the ballot in question.”

He noted that, contrary to what Amato claimed, the ballots were “either not postmarked, not sealed, not signed.”

“She’s really out of options and doesn’t want to lose,” Sullivan added. “I can’t fault her for that.” Amato has served in her position for three terms.

The matter is scheduled to be dealt with beginning Thursday, December 1, as the court works to “determine if the Board of Elections complied with Election Law with respect to the ballots deemed invalid.”

As the New York Post reports, while Biden won the district in 2020, during the recent midterm elections, Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin came out on top as residents responded positively to his opposition to controversial criminal justice reforms pushed by now-governor Kathy Hochul.